The Amish families that we are partners with lead a simple life based on Christian teachings. Their commitment to live separate from our world and without modern convenience is what most people know them for. Yet, the story of who they are and how they arrived here is rarely told.
Amish communities are a branch of the Anabaptists - people who believe in baptism as adults rather than as infants - who take their name from the specific teachings of Jacob Amman, who in 1693 founded the Amish Faith in Switzerland. They follow the Bible very literally, and their lifestyle derives from Jesus' admonishment "My Kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). They hold that entertainment and comfort for its own sake is a distraction away from Heaven. Some of their beliefs, such as the separation of church and state and their refusal to serve in the military, got them into trouble in their native lands. At times, they were even tortured and killed rather than submit to their persecutors. Anabaptists fled to Holland by the early 1700's seeking religious freedom.
In the 1720's, William Penn invited the Amish and similar groups to come to America. He had founded Pennsylvania, a land of religious freedom for all. The Amish took up his offer, and came to settle mostly in Lancaster County, and thrived under the freedom to worship as they wanted. From that time on, there were no Amish left in Europe. Gradually, the lands the Amish lived in became heavily settled. Land values made their simple horse drawn farming uneconomical. More and more Amish families turned to craft and furniture making for a living year round - a practice that previously was used as a way to supplement the farm income in the winter.
About a century ago, many Amish migrated -- first to Ohio and Indiana, and eventually further west. Our Amish partners and their families make their furniture here in the Upper Midwest. They keep to the same cooperative, simple life no matter where they are.
Written and published by Harmony Cedar, all rights reserved.